Sweeney's Men

Irish folk rock band founded in May 1966, taking their name from a character in Flann O'Brien's book "At Swim Two Birds". The members were "Galway Joe" Dolan (guitar, vocals), Johnny Moynihan (vocals, tin whistle, bouzouki), and Andy Irvine (vocals, mandolin, guitar, harmonica). The group was managed by Éamonn O'Doherty and then Des Kelly.

The original trio only released a single 7", Old Maid In A Garret. In June 1968, Dolan left, replaced by Terry Woods (vocals, 12-string guitar, concertina, mandolin, banjo). This lineup recorded their eponymous self-titled debut album. After that Irvine left to travel through Eastern Europe. He was replaced by the electric guitarist Henry McCullough, who had toured with Jimi Hendrix. They never recorded anything and their new guitarist left to play with Joe Cocker instead. Sweeney's Men were now a duo, if not two solo artists each trying to make a record of their own. The result, "The Tracks Of Sweeney" (1969), was the last LP they made.

The band has been credited as the first Irish folk-rock band, and Moynihan as the first to use bouzouki in Irish music.

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